


asclepius

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 19-Year-Old Harry Styles, 20-Year-Old Louis Tomlinson, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cancer, Depression, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Hospitals, I promise, Illnesses, Lung Cancer, M/M, Medical Inaccuracies, Owie, Sick Character, Sick Harry, Sickfic, Sickness, Terminal Illnesses, Young Harry Styles, Young Louis Tomlinson, im so sorry this is lots of angst, this is gonna hurt to write
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:48:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24636331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Asclepius; (ah - sclee - puh - is)The God of health and medicine. mastered his craft so well that Zeus strikes him dead for reviving the dead, saying it was unnatural and against the laws of nature. He lived on through life and taught this knowledge to his sons and students.Harry Styles, a 19-year-old "indie" singer and songwriter living out of his dad's old van and Louis Tomlinson, a 20-year-old college student discover that Harry has lung cancer. After Jay's passing, Louis is already taking care of Fizzy, Daisy, Phoebe, Doris, and Ernest, along with coping with his sisters disappearance. He now has to juggle the balance of taking care of not only the girls, but his boyfriend and the burden of heartbreak as well.
Relationships: Harry Styles & Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	asclepius

**Author's Note:**

> hies ! this is VERY self indulgent and angst ridden so ummm thankies for reading have fun !   
> the title of this story comes from the Greek God asclepidus! i recommend u check out his story along with the other gods!

* * *

Harry had been having a lot of headaches and coughing spurts. He almost _always_ had a headache lately. His cough sounded hoarse and his chest was in constant pain. He never thought anything of it because he assumed none of these symptoms were out of the 'norm'. It had been as if he had a simple cold or maybe the flu. Nothing felt too _serious_. He was still a teenager and living life the best way he could with whatever money he could find. He just let life take him and Louis where it needed to take them.

He was always a huge believer in fate. He knew that fate decreed for him and Louis to meet in the bathroom stall in a script concert he snuck out to go to, he knew fate pronounced that he and Louis were to live in the old banged up vehicle they are in now. Harry never really asked questions like why. He had always thought that he was where he was supposed to be, by Louis’ side and that was good enough for him. It never crossed the young man’s mind to maybe ask the big question of _“why?”._ He was okay with it; _they_ were okay with it.

That was true, of course, until Louis started _asking._ He wondered why Harry had a cough. He wondered a lot of things. Was the cough serious? Would he be okay? Is he dying? Harry reassured him that this was not the case, and that they would be fine. Louis was mellow, an easy-going guy until his mother died.

Jay left behind a small bit of inheritance money, eight kids and a lot of grief. They weren't rich, but they weren't poor. she was a nurse and had decent money. She died from leukemia two years back and was Harry and Louis’ biggest supporters. She was a second mother to Harry and filled in on all the spots Harry’s late mother, Anne, could not. The 8 kids Jay left in her wake had come to an abrupt realization that no matter who it is you love, _death is inevitable._

Most of the girls had come to terms with this, Doris, and Ernest, the youngest and Louis’ only brother were too young to understand. They were only at the mere age of 2, of course they knew their mother was gone but it wasn’t the same. Daisy and Phoebe were 12, the oldest twins were starting middle school soon and were getting excited to graduate into the step of teenage-hood.

Fizzy was 15 and independent, she was smart, intelligent and had the brains of the family. Lottie was the second oldest, right behind Louis, and she took their mother’s death the hardest. She was 18 and living with her boyfriend. Not too long after she died, she found out that her boyfriend had been cheating on her. She said that her life went to shit and automatically turned to drugs.

Louis doesn't blame her for this of course, if Louis hadn’t had Harry, he would know that he’d be in the same boat. He hated watching his sister waste herself away into drugs and alcohol. She had tried to get sober over the past two years but never fully recovered. Louis nor any of the rest of the family know where she went after graduating high school. One day she just seemed to cease to exist. Gone from all of her family's lives.

He was coping the best he could with his sister’s disappearance and his mother’s death. Harry was there to help as much as he could, providing constant support of Louis’ decisions in life. Louis would be completely lost without him, and every day he’s grateful for the curly headed man.

Their van is small, big enough for Louis, Harry, Doris, and Ernest at least. Daisy and Phoebe stay at their friends houses when they can, sometimes Doris and Ernest stay at the old couple’s place who used to babysit Harry when his dad was gone.They were nice and gave Harry a sense of security and home, he trusted them to do the same with the twins. Fizzy would stay with her boyfriend most of the time, which worried Louis, but he knew that she was smart enough and trusted her. He had learned that a lot of life is built on trust.

━━━

Harry’s cough only seemed to get worse, he started coughing up blood and throwing up. It didn’t get better, but that’s okay, because _Harry was okay_. Anytime Louis would worry Harry would play it off as a stupid bug going around or a small virus he must have caught at a gig. He convinced himself he was fine.

“Harry, I’m being serious when I ask this, are you sure that you're okay? You're worrying me love, I know I worry a lot and you like to call me a hypochondriac, but I’m nervous.” He mumbles into Harry’s shirt one evening. Him and Louis both know they do not have the money to be going to the ER, they were down on their luck. 

“I’ll be okay, if you worry about me then I’ll start to worry about me, and I don’t want that.” Harry chuckled back. He gave him a quick peck on the lips and smiled, hoping that it would end the conversation and they could go to sleep without a fight. Louis was not giving up on this though. His intuition told him that there was an issue, even if Harry didn’t agree. Louis had a knack for things like this, and was usually correct. Call him a psychic or call him crazy but Louis usually had a sense that there was something going on.

Sighing, Louis went on,

“But babe, don’t you think it's safer to just g—” Harry cut Louis off with another swift peck to the lips in an attempt to per-sway Louis' mind to ‘other’ things. Louis, fed up with Harry’s antics decided he had had enough of this game of beating around the bush.

“Harry, I love you, and I’m worried about you. All I want you to do is see a doctor. That’s all. Just one trip to the ER. Please. Do it for me?” Louis suggested, giving Harry puppy eyes with his big blue orbs. Of course, Harry couldn’t resist, but he also couldn’t afford any of this.

All of the sudden, it was like a light bulb had gone off in Harry’s head, Louis could see the lights flicker in them and knew Harry had a plan, whether it was a good one or not, if it meant Harry was going to get checked out and medical help, he would be okay with it.

“Do you remember when I was on craigslist awhile back looking for a few side jobs?” Harry asked Louis with a mischievous glint in his eyes, hinting that his ‘master plan’ was already set in motion whether Louis agreed or not. Cautiously, Louis answered his boyfriend's question back with a glinting eye and a slick smile.

“Yes, I do. And what is this plan of yours I see brewing in your head Harold?” Turning over to sit up, and move his body so that he was sitting on one of Louis’ legs on their tiny mattress in their van, Harry smirked at Louis and said,

“There were a few medical clinical trials I could do. They’d have to test me to do any of them for all types of things, we could find out what's wrong with me and also get money?” He squeaked out. Nervous for what Louis had to say, even though he knew Louis would always have his back.

Louis sighed in relief in joy. As much as he loved Harry, his plans could be outright atrocious and outrageous at times.

“Harold Edward Styles, you might just be a secret genius in there.” Louis remarked, lightly slapping his boyfriend on the arm and giggling at him.

“Heyyyyy. I’m the smartest man you’ve ever met. And the smartest man you've ever loved. Stop denying it and come to the conclusion already, your late, the whole world knows by now love.” Harry joked, sticking his tongue out at Louis and making him laugh even harder.

"You're the only man I've loved dumbass." Louis remarked back. He caressed his cheek as they kissed again, every time it felt so sweet, so surreal. It literally felt like the first time, every time they kissed. Harry lit up Louis' nerves, electricity fizzled in his veins and electrocuted his heart every time he was in the presence of the boy. He loved him eternally and the bond they shared made it feel like the whole universe had to know about it, he wanted to shout from the rooftops how much he loved Harry. 

One of their favorite things about each other was that they have the ability to just make each other laugh or smile at any given moment. Harry’s stupid jokes and Louis’ sassiness always gets the better of them and they erupt into giggles. It made them eternally happy, it felt silly and freeing. it felt _young_. they _are_ young. 

Louis loves the way Harry's curls bounce when he walks, the way his eyes shimmer with specks of gold in the sea of green emeralds when the sun would hit it just right. He loved his tattoos, especially the butterfly one. He’d never tell anyone, but it made Louis feel dainty, even though he wasn't the one with the tattoo.

Their tattoos have been their subtle ways of saying “I love you”, even since before they were officially ‘out’. They had got “Hi” and “Oops” as their first tattoo together, and no one knew what it meant except them, no one even knew they had them. They were 16 and 18, in love. They got it right before Harry’s birthday. Louis had just turned 18 and wanted to get a tattoo, Harry was 16 going on 17 and wanted a matching one. They hid them where no one noticed. They were fairly small and hidden on their arms.

Except, of course, Jay noticed. She _always_ noticed. She never said anything for respect out of the boys, not wanting to bring it up and make things awkward or make it seem like they were being ‘too loud’ by just being themselves. When they did decide to come out to her, she had already known, but was happy that she had gained the trust from not only Louis, but her son’s favorite person, his boyfriend Harry. She always saw Harry as a son-in-law and loved him like she loved Louis.

━━━

_“Did you know that I love you?” Louis asked one night._

_They were 17 and 18. It was Harry's birthday and he had never said it before. They had just come out to Louis’ family and were still on the adrenaline high you get when you do something exhilarating. Both boys were sitting atop Jay’s roof. It was cold but they had each other to keep warm._

_“Yeah. You know that I love you too, right?” Harry replied. Turning his head to look at his lover._ _A grin appeared on the other boy’s face as he slowly nodded his head._

_"Yeah. Yeah I do now.”_

_They kissed for what felt like eternities. The stars seemed to sing for them in harmony of the boys rejoicing in love. The wind hugged close to both of the boys and whipped around them as they kissed. They knew they would cherish this forever. It felt like a moment that made all history stop. Nothing else would ever matter more to Louis than protecting the boy in front of him._

_Jay could hear them, she was outside looking for them when she noticed that they were sitting on the roof. She did a quick prayer in her mind that they’d be safe and not fall off, considering it was a big drop. She smiled to herself and went inside, made tea and awaited their return._

Harry dreamed about that fateful night. He cuddled Louis and slipped into a dream world filled with the boy he loved, oceans of blue in his eyes and the perfect pale skin that Louis had, even with any ‘imperfections’ that were on it, he loved it all, the acne, scars and bumps. He had his face memorized and he knew he’d never forget it, no matter what.

━━━

The day Louis and Harry found out about Harry’s lung cancer was cold, brittle, and unwelcoming. It was September and freezing. It felt like the cold was nipping at him and biting him. He had Louis and the girls, his band mates, and several other friends, he reassured himself there was nothing to worry about. _They were fine,_ he was sure of it, and _nothing_ was going to change his mind.

Not only did he need this diagnosis, he needed the money. They were _completely_ shit broke. Louis had no money, and small tips from his waiting tables’ job got them as far as they could go, along with Harry’s gigs in bars. They used up all of Jay’s inheritance money paying for Louis’ college. They lived in a small town, with little to no people and even smaller job opportunities. Everyone knew everyone, and you just had to accept your place in the hierarchy of society.

The day was already not off to a good start. Harry had woken up with a sore back. Not only that, but the extremely overwhelming urge to vomit. His head was throbbing. It's clawing at every inch of his body and shoving their nails into his head, causing an extreme migraine. It's loud and painful. He staggered outside of the van, slammed open the van’s door, nearly knocking over the side view mirror on the rusty old van before he spilled out his guts on the gravel of the road.

Louis was worried, extremely worried at this point. Harry was usually never sick, and normally only threw up due to hangovers. He rushed to his boyfriend's side, cradling him and holding his hair up. 

"Poor baby. Is there anything I can get for you my love? Water, crackers, I think we might have some ginger ale left." he shushed into his shoulder. 

"Water please." Harry croaked through a throat full of bile and scratchiness. His throat is on fire and he needs something to to soothe it.

Soon enough, Louis was back with a water bottle, jacket and a hot towel for him. He wrapped the jacket around him, knowing he was cold since he had ran out of the van in nothing but boxers and a wife beater. 

Louis felt his head and rubbed his back as he continued to throw up. Louis left soft kisses on the side of Harry's head, whispering into his ear how much he loved him and that it's okay.

"Sorry," Harry's embarrassed. His cheeks aflame and hot. He knew he shouldn't apologize for throwing up, it's not like he can change his body from wanting to throw up when it's telling him he needs to. 

"Don't apologize Haz," he rubbed his hands through his hair and gave another soft peck to Harry's head, and brought the plastic bottle of water to his mouth once more. "You can't control it, when you're done we can sit down and watch a movie,"

Harry nodded his head, sipping from the bottle and putting his hands on his knee. He was tired. A nap, movie and some ginger ale sounded good. 

" _The Notebook_? Is that your pick again?" Louis questions, giving Harry a knowing look. Harry gave Louis a sweet smile and a slight nod. Every movement hurt his head, it was pounding like someone was bouncing on drums in his head.

"Do I need to even ask? You always choose this movie. But you're lucky I don't mind it." Louis remarks back and him, giving a sweet smile back. That was a lie though, he secretly loved the movie as well, but to keep his dignity, he'd never admit it. They both knew it but Louis refuses to acknowledge it.

Louis grabbed the ginger ale from the stand it was sitting on and put the movie disc into their laptop. It was small, but it worked. The kids were all gone, Doris and Ernest were staying at their friends house, for a play date, Daisy and Phoebe were at their friends and Fizzy was of course at her boyfriend's like usual.

Louis crawled into their bed, placed the laptop on the end near the edge of their small queen bed that fit just right into their van. He laid down next to Harry and pulled him onto his chest, snuggling him close. Before both of them knew it, they were passed out, intertwined with each other as _The Notebook_ gave a subtle background noise. 

━━━

Upon arrival, the doctors just needed to take a sample from him, and while examining him, they found a small bump on his body. It seemed negligible and minor at the time, so he agreed to get it checked out. Its what Louis would've wanted. 

There was no reason to not get it checked out. After all, they were already in a hospital, and the bump was probably harmless. He wasn't there for the bump, but 'the more the merrier' he thought.

"How long have you had this bump Mr. Styles?" the doctor questioned, with a apprehensive look in his eye. Harry didn't know, he didn't even known it was there. He never noticed it, Louis might've but Harry had no clue.

"I'm not sure, Sorry." He replied cautiously. 

"Well Mr. Styles, I could check you out real quick if you didn't mind? We can draw some blood and do a quick scan to figure out what it is if you'd like," Harry looked up at the doctor, annoyed.

"Call me Harry, please,"

He hated whenever he was addressed as Mr. Styles. It felt _formal_ and _wrong._ He wasn't formal at all, nor was he his father. 

His father was always addressed as Mr. Styles. He ran a million dollar company and was filthy rich. Harry, never got any of the riches. He had thrown that all down the drain when he caught Louis and Harry making out in Harry's bedroom one afternoon. He evidently never wanted a gay son, and he'd never support one either. Harry's sister was off in the US, with her husband and two kids, carrying on some of the 'family name'.

━━━

_"Har-" His father opened the door to his bedroom and dropped the glass he was holding, making it fall to the floor and shatter. It was his mother's glass and she loved to use it for her tea. But Harry's father, Des, didn't care, he never did._

_There was no way out of this. Louis was on top of Harry, they had little to no clothes on, Harry was naked and Louis had his boxers on. They were fucked._

_"What the fuck?" Des roared at them. He stalked towards them, feet pounding on the ground with every step he took. They scrambled to cover up and get off of the bed._

_"I swear I can ex-"_

_Slap._

_He slapped Harry across the face, his ring cutting his face and drawing blood. Louis didn't know what to do. He wanted to stand up for Harry, but he was scared, for him and their relationship both. He felt like a coward. He still does, for not doing anything, but thats the past and he's over it._

_Des had promptly kicked them out afterwards, told them to,_

_"Get their shit out, if I ever see you step foot near my property you'll regret it,"_

_They left and never looked back. Jay was there, Harry and her compromised that he would help bake her goods and do yard work in exchange for staying with them until they were old enough to get their own place._

_━━━_

Harry always thought that Mr. Tomlinson sounded better. For him, at least. Louis liked Mr. Styles for himself but they agreed on Tomlinson-Styles, if they were ever to get married. Their kids would have the same, as well. 

"So, Harry, would you like to be checked out for this bump? It wont take too long."

Harry nodded and allowed the doctors to do their thing for what seemed like hours. It was boring, uncomfortable, and he hated how cold everything was. It felt foreign, and his body was frigid against any cold metal or plastic it touched.

_━━━_

To his surprise, they did scans on the bump, pre-surgical testing found that a large mass was growing in the lower right lobe of Harry’s left lung. He paled at this. _What?_ There was no way any of this was real. His mind was racing with what it could be, his mind immediately thought of Louis. What was he going to tell him? Everything was spinning.

What seemed to be a simple money maker for people like Harry, completely turned his world upside down. A CT scan confirmed this lump to be a fist sized benign tumor. With this knowledge, the doctors checked his breathing, only to find out that Harry was, miraculously, only operating on only 30% of his total oxygen.

"Sir, you're extremely lucky to be awake right now. You should be in a coma. We're going to take you to the oncology floor. You need to be put on oxygen." the doctor proclaimed. 

Harry was immediately rushed to the oncology floor. Five liters of fluid drawn, numerous checkups, scans, breathing tubes and four hours later, he still hadn't gone home. He hadn't even gotten to tell Louis what was happening. His poor Louis, was probably wondering what was happening. He knew Louis would be worrying and freaking out.

"Oh God Louis." Harry breathed out through the ventilator he was currently using.

A nearby nurse overheard this, and asked him to repeat. Harry attempted to take off the mask, but the nurse scolded him for it, saying he needed to have it on at all times. Harry knew that he needed to get to Louis before he did something irrational but talking with a ventilator is hard.

"Call my boyfriend, Louis Tomlinson" he croaked out through the ventilator once more. This time, the nurse understood and asked him if he was in his records. Harry shook his head. The only person in his records was his father. He was a useless call, he wouldn't even bother picking up, so it was no use.

The nurse gave Harry a paper to fill out, to put his info in, and once Louis got here, he could fill the rest he didn't know. While skimming through the pamphlet of papers he needed to sign and fill out, he cringed when he had to write "deceased" for Louis mum, Jay. It was sensitive and despite it being two years later, Louis refuses to talk about it to anyone but his family or Harry.

Louis eventually arrived after Harry signed all of the papers and the hospital called him. Anyone in the room could tell the poor boy was worried sick. He was pacing and shaking. His nerves making Harry's worsen. They both needed to calm down, doctors assured them that Harry was okay and will only be staying for a few days to make sure everything would be okay. They said they would find a way to make sure everything was okay. But would it be? Harry wasn't sure, and neither was Louis.

_━━━_

Days later, 

Harry was diagnosed with _stage IV lung cancer_.

The doctors didn't have an explanation other than that sometimes it just happens. Harry, was sure he did something wrong. He was always so healthy, he had never smoked, except for the occasional blunt, second hand smoke was rare and only when Louis would smoke around him, which was rare since Harry had always hated the smell of cigarettes, it reminded him of his father who would come home smelling like cheap whiskey and cigarettes from his many affairs with women. What had Harry done to deserve any type of sickness, let alone cancer?

He was a good guy, did nice things whenever he could afford to spend a few extra dollars on the girls or Louis, visited the old elderly couple he used to live by and have dinner with them when picking up the twins, did housework for them sometimes as well.

_━━━_

The doctors kept pushing serious things like _chemo_ , _the life expectancy rates_ and _wills._ This scared Harry. Harry takes pride in the fact that he is not easily startled by news. He knows how to keep his calm in situations and stay in a good head space. This was fucking _scary._ He couldn't breathe.

He had _cancer. Stage IV cancer._

_fuck._


End file.
